Piskies
History Piskies are native to southwestern Albion and Cymru. Before the Sundering, they congregated amongst the flowers and flowering trees, gentle guardians and companions. They were born from the early dreams of children and their affinity for young humans was never lost. Fragile by nature like butterflies, hummingbirds and flowers they suffered greviously from the Shattering. The Changeling Way was difficult for them to take up and many piskies let themselves be Undone rather than trapping themselves in flesh. Piskies kept themselves as close to both nature and children as they could. After very nearly going extinct, they managed to slowly make a comeback through the Isles of the Mighty. They had a strong influence on the Romanticism of the 1800s and its art, literature and music. After the Resurgence Peaceful by nature, only a handful of piskies participated in the Accordance War in Cymru at the side of the other commoners. They were more concerned about keeping their kith's modest little holdings safe and were quick to swear fealty to the sidhe and serve as scouts and spies in order to win assurances they could do so. This embittered many of the other commoners towards them and just added to their reputation as cowardly, feckless and untrustworthy. Piskey Lifestyle Most piskies are solitary and restless, setting up residence in one place for a couple of years and then moving on. In Cymru, there are a number of very modest glades and holdings with strong nature or actor affinity that pass hands from one piskey to another at least once a decade; the piskeys travel from one to another in intuitive rotation. Piskies are friendly to everyone but are especially prone to befriending children in need of a friend, champion or defender. They get along very well with mortals and metahumans who are nomads like themselves. There are stories of piskies having a special relationship with a strange and rare kith of fairy cats called the Cellican. While they might not be as zealous as the boggans or as obsessed as the nockers, piskies aren't lazy and will cheerfully labor alongside mortal or kithain friends. They love to serve as messengers and guides when they can but can't resist from collecting trinkets and trophies. Unlike clurichaun they don't do it to horde them as treasures; its the impulse to pilfer not the object of pilfering which drives them. They often give what they steal away to the first needy person they see. They tend to be short, usually four to five feet tall with long silver hair that both genders wear long and in braids. They tend to wear several layers of tattered clothing in earthy tones and have a basic traveling pack with a few tools, some food and a random trinket or two. Thier skin tends to darken as they age. Seelie vs Unseelie Unseelie piskies are still quite friendly, they just tend to be more capricious. They tend to wander even more than their Seelie counter-parts and are less scrupulous about what they steal and who they steal it from. While they still often serve as friends and benefactors to children, they can be ruthless in their own way to adults, especially those who ignore or abuse their children. Unseelie piskies are fond of capricious pranks and ravagings of adults who fail to be good parents or guardians. Affinity Actor Birthrights *Nimble- all piskies add one to their dexterity, even if this increases the trait above 5; this birthright is in effect at all times. Piskies are also incredibly adaptable to their surroundings and cannot botch any survival rolls. *human bonds- piskies are very sensitive to the human emotion, especially that of children. The difficulty for any empathy-based rolls involving humans is reduced by two for adults and three for children but never lower than difficulty three. Frailty *Kleptomania- If piskies see something they desire, they take it. It doesn't need to be valuable by human standards. To resist this impulse, players must make a successful Willpower roll, difficulty 8. Most Seelie piskies will happily give back stolen property when asked; Unseelie piskey will play games and make the original owner work for it. go to the Main Changeling Page or go to the Kithain Page